Despair's Sanctuary
by Crimson Spider Lily
Summary: A new initiative by the Future Foundation had sent a team to rebuild the remote town of Iruyama, to use its neighbouring ressources as well as to transform it into a hidden refuge from the countless deaths caused by the Remnants of Despair. However, in a cruel twist of fate, this sanctuary of hope was turned into the main stage of their newest Killing Game.
1. Prologue

A fist was slammed on a table as a man shook some documents in the air before slamming them down as well, glaring at the people gathered around a reunion table.

"What is _this_? It hasn't been a week yet that we sent people there and we have already lost Iruyama?"

"Sir, we haven't yet been able to confirm the cause of the loss of comunica-"

"This village was supposed to be hidden, to be a secret. It was small, remoted and mostly unknown, nobody knew that place. It was going to be a valuable asset for its many possible ressources, but it was also supposed to be a refuge where people could hide from the Remnants. _And it is already compromised?"_ angrilystated the man, before slowly continuing, putting a heavy emphasis on each words _._ "Is it the Remnants of Despair's doing?"

"Well, sir, it's impossible to confirm at the moment. It is true that Remnants of Despair's activity has risen in the last couple of days, but we cannot yet confirm a correlation between the two incidents." responded a bespectacled girl, as another continued.

"Their activity as been quite sporadic, but farely far from the site. Therefore, it could also simply be defective equipment. The site may be currently viable and not compromised in the slightest. A team has been formed to seek the answers however."

"Let's hope we don't lose communications with them too." grumbled the man, as the person on his left coughed lightly.

"The equipment had been verified multiple times before the team's departure, so it is unlikely to be the cause. The weather can't be blame as well, as there was no storm or other weather-related incident that could have halted the communications. I believe it is fully possible that it is the Remnants of Despair's doing, for all we know, their recent surge of activity a little bit everywhere could have been a distraction from their main plan."

"Which would be?"

"I do not know. However, it is also a possibility that this loss of communication is another distraction. Obviously, whether or not this is another distraction or not, it is certain that the situation is worrisome and most likely will bring some casualties. They have no boundaries in their ridiculous quest for Depair."

"In any way, finding out what happened is a priority. This situation must be solved as soon as possible."

"I wonder... If it is truly the Remnants of Despair's doing, if it's all distraction leading to a big event, what is that 'main event'?"

At this moment, the door was slammed open, a women panting in the doorway. She seemed distraught and worried as she straightened up, heading toward the only monitor present in the room, near the door. "I'm sorry, but there is some very important matter that I'm here to disclosed to you concerning the loss of communication with the Iruyama's rebuilding team."

"It'd better be important." angrily scoffed the man, frowning as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"See for yourself." deadpanned the newcomer, glaring at time as she turned on the monitor. The screen displayed different sceneries, from a statue of a samurai to empty fields to lines of houses to a park surrounded by a forest and so on.

"This is..!" stuttered one of the members, as another concluded.

"Iruyama?... Why is it being broadcasted? What is the meaning of this?!"

Everybody stared incredulously at the monitor, which promptly glitched as a sound emerged loudly from its speaker.

" _Welcome to the newest Killing Game, broadcasted to give you all some well-deserved despair! Upupupu!_ "

* * *

 **Hi! Welcome to Despair's sanctuary, a Danganronpa SYOC! Basically, as a quick synopsis, 17 members of the Future Foundation,** **Ultimates and non-Ultimates, were sent to the small, remoted village of Iruyama to rebuild it as a refuge from the tragedy. However, they ended up trapped in a Killing Game within the desolated town. I try to make it kinda unique and this is what I ended up with.**

 **Thank you for reading~**

* * *

 _Submitted Ultimates:_

Surfer

Fencer

Miner

Matchmaker

Sukeban

Storyteller

Cheerleader

Webcomic Artist

Forensic Scientist

Profiler

Punk Rocker

Polysomnographist

Anomalistic Psychologist

Agronomist

Confectioner

Politician

Trafficker

Pawnbroker

 _# of submitted non-Ultimates:_

5

* * *

And for those curious who'd like to know

 _# of submitted girls_

10

 _# of submitted boys_

10

 _# of submitted non-binary characters_

2

* * *

 _# of submitted Divisions_

1st Division: 2

2nd Division: 1

3rd Division: 2

4th Division: 1

5th Division: 2

6th Division: 3

7th Division: 1

8th Division: 1

9th Division: 2

10th Division: 1

11th Division: 1

12th division: 0

13th division: 1

14th Division: 3


	2. Iruyama Project

**A/N: Hi! Finally got this done. I got insanely busy and kept doing things complicate instead of easy, which really didn't help my time management which is already the worst to begin with. But hey, I got this done! Kinda got inspired or something like that when going to a covention this week-end, where I found (and bought) some Danganronpa merch. There wasn't much of it though, which isn't that much of a bad thing since I wasted less money that way. Which I did anyway because there was a lot of things I wanted. But anyway, back on the topic of this fanfic!  
**

 **Thank you all for your submissions! I chose those I found had the most potential within the cast, those I really liked and/or those which I had lots of idea for them already. Still, I appreciate all of your submissions, and I hope you keep reading even if your OC wasn't chosen, but I'll understand if you don't.**

 **I tried to make the cast anoucement chapter like some kind of project report of some kind for the reconstruction of Iruyama. Please let me know what you think of the cast so far, even if you don't have much to go on right now!**

 **I probably won't be able to update until May, I'll try to update before June. I finish university in the end of april (the end of the semester is arriving very fast and I'm scared) , then visit family before going back home for the summer vacation until uni picks back up in september. But yeah, will try to update soon as I can, but until then, let me know what you think so far, any theories, however wrong they might end up as, that you have based one the very little amount of information you have so far.**

 **Anyway, enjoy this cast annoucement typed within a weird report-like thing!**

* * *

 _ **IRUYAMA PROJECT**_

 _ **Second Unit**_

 **Objective:**

-Build a sanctuary safe from the Tragedy and the Remnants of Despair in the village of Iruyama.

 **Goal:**

-Self-sustenance

-Rebuild

-To restart the agriculture of the village

-To repair and assure the good function of the hospital/clinic

-Secure the livestock and restart the farm

-Build a security system as well as a security protocol

-Establish a line of communication for the village to be updated with the Tragedy status as well as if they need help.

-Establish a government as the city shall autogovern without outside intereference, as communications should be kept to the minimum.

-Establish a school program as well as a culture program.

-Other fonctions to be established over time.

* * *

 **PARTICIPANTS:**

 **1st Division: Provide overall directions and leadership of Future Foundation**

Whitney Watson – _Ultimate Politician_

 **2nd Division:** **Manage day-to-day operations of the Future Foundation, construction of facility; expansion of organization; military and peacekeeping force**

Suzume Fujimoto – _Ultimate Surfer_

 **3rd Division: Human resources, include scouting for potential members and personnel assignments**

Kokoro Omoiyari – _Ultimate Matchmaker_

Aoi Ayama – _Ultimate Storyteller_

 **4th Division: Research and develop medical techniques**

Reiga Mugahito – _Ultimate Forensic Biologist_

 **5th Division: Intelligence, Inquiry, and Counter-Espionage**

Bleach – _Ultimate N/A_

 **6th Division: Policing, including riot suppression and investigate special crimes**

Mitsuru Banba – _Ultimate Sukeban_

Mariko Shinobu a.k.a. Oni – _Ultimate N/A_

 **7th Division: Information System security and administration; Research and develop therapy to cure Despair**

Satoru Kitaura – _Ultimate N/A_

 **8th Division: Long-term stable food procurement**

Aimi Matsui – _Ultimate Confectioner_

 **9th Division: Armament R &D, Production, and distribution**

Toru Akuji – _Ultimate N/A_

Herman Schulze – _Ultimate N/A_

 **10th Division: Assistance in reviving education and culture**

Rio Ishi – _Ultimate Anomalistic Psychologist_

 **11th Division: Assistance in restoring agriculture in disaster area**

Yori Yukimura – _Ultimate Agronomist_

 **12th Division: Assistance in restoring infrastructure; such as transportation, communication, and public facilities**

N/A

 **13th Division: Front-line Food and Resource Distribution**

Sachi Shimizu – _Ultimate Pawnbroker_

Hikari Kaneko – _Ultimate Trafficker_

 **14th Division: Public Relations; spreading news of Future Foundation's activities to the public**

Yurika Konoe – _Ultimate Cheerleader_


	3. Chapter I - (Ab)normal Days Part I

**FINALLY A CHAPTER! AH! I MANAGED TO DO SOMETHING!**

 **Hi people! Finally finished the first part of the intros, which are split in two to begin the story faster an not cram everybody in one with less screentime which I would have most definitively have done. I'm quite content with this, i'm not sure if I did a good job at giving a clear view of the characters, if the intros are good for them, etc. (Silent character who almost doesn't talk are hard to make intros for! AAAaah!) But yeah, I hope you like the intros anyway! It felt like a wrote such a long time, since last time it was half the cast intros+ half the locations and had like 500 less words for it, and these intros stay in the same general area so, yeah! Lots of intro words, which I'm glad about and I feel like I'm getting slowly better at writing, and I hope to get better as the story goes on as well!**

 **Also, thank you to everybody who reviewed last chapter and for the understanding of school murdering me and my time! I really appreciate it a lot! Also, will do review replies in the future! Cuz they're kinda fun to do.**

 **So, without further ado, here's the chapter and I hope you enjoy it and tell me your every thoughts about it!**

* * *

Trees rapidly passed by the window as a young woman hummed in a truck, her long, peach-colored nail tapping lightly on the dash of the truck she was curently in. Sunlight tapped on her blue sunglasses as she turned to face the man driving the vehicule before speaking in a whiny voice.

"When are we arriviiiiing?"

"Soon enough."

"Such precision..."

"I never went to the place before, what did you expect?"

The woman sighed, playing around with her golden necklaces as her grey stare analyzed the man beside her. Contrary to her, the man seemed way more proper and professional, as if going to a job interview instead of a village in which they would live for at the very least a couple of years, as he wore a long-sleeved blue shirt and some white khakis accompanied by a brown belt. His short brown hair, cut down at the base of his neck, were neatly combed and his blue eyes focused on the road ahead.

The woman bit her lip as she looked at her own outfit; it comprised of a a black shirt sporting a colorgul hawaiian-style pattern which was tucked messily into black high-waisted shorts, accompanied by a thigh gun holster and ankle-high laced-up black high-heeled boots. Her dual-toned, wavy hair reached down to her midback and seemed messy and slightly unkempt; bangs were cut barely above her eyes, where the division between the cobalt blue half of her hair and the silver half was easily seen.

She truely contrasted with the man sat beside her, as they looked like they were going to two completely different event, which made the woman slightly reconsider her wardrobe choice. They were from the same division, the 9th, a.k.a Armament R&D, Production, and distribution, so it would be expected of them to have similar outfit, but it wasn't the case in the slightest. To be fair, they weren't really in the same branch; he was in distribution while she was in the Armament Research and Development, but still.

As she wonders if others would also be dressed so professionally, she looked at the side mirror, in which the two trucks following them reflected. They were one of the few convoys sent for the rebuilding of Iruyama, a small village located in the middle of no where. A few convoys had been sent, the poor souls who had to actually do the basic rebuilding, making sure the area was liveable, and live in tents in the meantime. They were just added manpower to the very small group, and with this convoy in particular, it was added security, as it comprised of members of the 9th, 5th and 6th division, the last two being Intelligence, Inquiry, and Counter-Espionage and Policing, including riot suppression and investigate special crimes, respectively.

The woman clapped her hands and smiled widely as she saw the forest clear, unveiling a small, charming village, which seemed to have avoided the mass destruction most of the bigger cities had endured due to the Tragedy. Fields covered the landscapes, some filled with cows munching lightly on the grass. Small charming houses littered the street, with a few other buildings farther down. It was beautiful and peaceful, the greyness of smoke-filled sky and cracked concrete repaced by the green of the pasture and the trees. It truely seemed like a haven, spared by the Tragedy's dark reach.

The woman quickly exited the vehicule as soon as it was stopped, enjoying the fresh, smoke-free air before turning back to her companion, who was opening the gate from the truck, already ready to unpack it.

"Hey dude, Herman, take a second to arrive before taking care of the guns."

"We have a job to do, this isn't vacations, even though you're dressed like it is." he said, his thick german accent ever so present, smiling as he grapped one of the boxes from the truck, while the passengers of the following trucks exited their vehicules.

"Let's meet our future neigbours first!" exclaimed the girl, turning to face the newcomers. None of them had met before the convoy really started, they all joined each others at different points od the road, to try and confuse the Remnants of Despair, even just for a bit. They only had joined each other a while after having reached the comforting hiding place given by the tall forest trees.

The woman approached one of them, posing dramatically, arms in the air, before bowing down and straigthening back up again, smiling widely as she presented herself.

"Hi! I'm Toru Akuji, from Armament R&D! That guy over there is Herman Schulze, from Distribution. And who are you?"

 **TORU AKUJI - 9th DIVISION**

 **HERMAN SHULZE - 9th DIVISION**

"Name's Mitsuru Banba. 6th Division, Black Guard." said the pink-haired woman, her voice low and forceful, her thin lips forming a frown. She stood straight, obviously ready to defend herself, even though Toru had clearly made herself appear friendly.

 **MITSURU BANBA - ULTIMATE SUKEBAN - 6th DIVISION**

Toru, looking at the girl, let out a smile of relief as she saw Mitsuru's outfit; she wasn't the only one not dressed for a meeting with the higher ups. Mitsuru sported a dark blue modern style sailor uniform comprised of a white necktie, a knee length black skirt, over-sized blue socks and black high heels. A tattered, ankle-length overcoat was thrown over the outfit, its back covered by the emblem of the Black Guard ont it; a black shield with two swords crossed behind it, with the kanji for "Black" and "Guard" stitched in gold over the shield. Black wire-framed glasses rested on her thin face, slightly hiding the scare over her left hair and framing her dark blue eyes ringed with eyeliner. She has quite pale skin and a pointed chin, while her bright pink hair was styled into a high ponytail as a locket hung from a gold chain around her neck.

All in all, more gang professional than Future Foundation professional, which made sense, as she was the known leader of the Black Guard gang, which had allied itself with the Future Foundation in the wake of the Tragedy, being the de-facto security faction in Chiba. Also, an Ultimate from Hope's Peak High School, which amped up the intimadation factor for Toru, as she was neither in a gang or an Ultimate, just like Herman, as they were both normal people from the streets.

Toru regained her composure, coughing lightly before talking once again. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Chiba with the Black Guard or something?"

"Bodyguarding."

"That's.. it?" wondered Toru, clearly confused, as she thought the pink-haired girl would have had a more important-sounding reason to leave her beloved gang.

"Why the hesitation? Isn't it like, super important to have bodyguards for one of the leaders of the Future Foundation?" asked a new voice, speaking fast through a clear american accent as a woman approached, leaning on one leg with her hands lazily on her hips as she reached the duo.

Toru internally cursed as she looked at the newcomer, yet again dressed far more formally than she was. A white blouse had its top buttons left open, while a black dress skirt hang on her hips and black heels adorned her feet. A white bow headband rested on her shoulder-length, pink culry hair, which matched her pink eyes. Make-up also adorned her slim, symmetrical face, which had defined features a light peach skin.

"I guess it kinda is, even though everybody deserve protection." finally replied Toru, biting the interior of her cheek as she looked directly into the newcomer's eyes. "More importantly, that ain't your real eyecolor, right?"

"It's like.. contacts, obviously. Just, who are you?" brashly asked the woman, slightly glaring.

"Who are _you,_ is the question that should be answered first! I'm not the one claiming to be a top official! I should recognize you, but I don't, even though it's your job to be known sooooo, make yourself known!" quickly replied Toru, dramatically pointing at the newcomer as Mitsuru sighed beside her.

"Omg, what's wrong with you? Anyway, I'm Whitney Watson, I'm from the 1st Division. And who are you, now?"

 **WHITNEY WATSON - ULTIMATE POLITICIAN - 1st DIVISION**

"Toru Akuji, 9th Division, that's-a me." replied Toru, popping her mouth as she lazily, and slightly mockingly, saluted the politician. Just her luck, meeting one of the leaders of the Future Foundations while being dressed as the most tourist-looking person on vacation. "Nobody knows who I am all the time cuz I'm not doing decisions. What's a top dog doing around here, huh?" she continued, cringing internally at her own way of talking to her superior. This meeting was going swimmingly, really.

"This place, like any other, need direction and leadership." replied Whitney, eyeing the girl in front of her. "And like, what are you doing here?"

Toru was already regreting her previous smal insolence. This wasn't a good way to start a relationship. This wasn't a good way to start this working trip. Letting a nervous laugh, she dramatically answered, still continuing her earlier bravado as everything was already a mess. "I'm absolutely non-vital to this trip and quite useless all in all, I could have stayed where I was but I didn't. I'm gonna continue making and researching and developping weapons and what not, as it is what we do in Armament R&D, but here, instead of over there."

"That like, great." casually answered Whitney, obviously unsured about what to say as Toru took a deep breath, sighing as she nonchalantly threw her arms in the air.

"I just _love_ being useless."

Silence broke out as both Mitsuru and Whitney confusedly looked at her, making the girl lookg back at Herman, still unpacking the truck and letting her clearly know that she was on her own with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Okay, soooo... Let's try to un-awkward this. Let's say, weapon expert here, kinda useless, but here nonetheless, nice to meet y'all." tried Toru, clapping her hands together as she smiled awkwardly.

"Well at least she's honest about her general uselessness for this village." coldly noted Mitsuru, making the self-named weapon expert sigh inwardly. "You could develop further defense for the village, however, and better equipment to defend it against attackers. Therefore, your presence is not fully lost."

"I'll be sure to provide the best I can." smiled Toru, as the task began to weigh on her already. It was going to be no small feat to develop new weapons and technologies to defend the vastness of the village, far more difficult than a simple building.

"I'm sure you ca-"

"Behold peasants!" loudly voiced a newcomer, cutting off Whitney as a thin but still slightly muscular woman suddenly appeared, poiting directly at the group with her silver-manicured finger. "Be grateful to meet me, Queen Suji the first. You may call me your highness. Or Queen Suji could suffice for now."

Toru quite noticeably grimaced upon hearing the introductions, knowing from this instant that there would be division within the group due to this newcomer. Once again, the hawaiian shirt-wearing woman felt incredibly underdressed, even though it was more likely that the so-called 'Queen Suji' was simply over-dressed. A silver tiara rested atop her straight, shoulder-length blonde hair styled into a bun made with two little braids and the rest of her hair, unveiling black lace earrings. Her skin was lightly tanned due to solar exposure while make-up adorned her round face. She wore an elegant, off the shoulder grey-white striped top which contained lots of ruffles along with a lace-detailed short black skirt. Black lace flats and a bandage around her right elbow complete her slightly extravagant outfit.

Her unnatural glowing golden eyes were fixated on Toru, as if she was waiting for her to bow down.

"Toru Akuji, quite the peasant." confusedly answered the grey-eyed girl, motioning to herself, before pointing at her companions. "Mitsuru Banba, Queen of the Black Guard and Whitney Watson, Princess of the Future Foundation. What's your queen credentials?"

Mitsuru simply glared at her upon hearing the introductions, clearly meaning 'Don't start any shit now'. "Don't pay attention to her. You're Suzume Fujimito, aren't you?"

"Ah! Somebody who knows of my greatness, unlike the other fool! It shall be known that I'm the greatest being who ever surfed, for this ignorant peasant! As for you, miss Black Guard, you, as anybody else, shall refer to me only as Queen Suji, is it clear? Otherwise, I shall set you on fire in your sleep! I shall be gracious at this time and forgive you this first insolence, but I won't do it no more!"

 **SUZUME FUJIMOTO - ULTIMATE SURFER - 2nd DIVISION**

"Doublenegationmeansyouwillforgivesomemoreinsolence" coughed Toru as Mitsuru frowned, clearly irritated at the self-titled queen.

"What the fuck is your pro-"

"Queen Suji, thank you for your tolerance, some people are just..." started Whitney, clearly trying very hard to be proffesional.

"Ignorant."

"Let's go with that, yeah. As a member of the 2nd Division, you are tasked with day-to-day management, correct? As it is part of my job to provide overall management, I would advise to go meet the already established members of this project to learn what has yet to be done and plan accordingly to ensure said project to its end." calmly said Whitney, although in a very forced manner. Toru couldn't help but feel pity for her as she'd have to endure the haughty girl some more, but was eternally glad when she accepted and they both left, followed by Mitsuru, who very begrudingly did so, to the Community Center. In that moment, Toru was extremely glad that her general almost-useless-since-easily-done-at-a-distance job allowed her to be far away from Suji, unlike the current bodyguarding job of Mitsuru and the politician one of Whitney. She already felt bad for any other soul who had to be stuck in such jobs.

Left alone, Toru turned to the trucks, who people were still unpacking. She approached one of them, preferring to introduce herself to everybody instead of actually doing what she needed to do, a.k.a. unpacking as well.

"Hi there!" As she introduced herself, Toru quickly analyzed the person's clothing, relieved as they wore more casual clothing as well. Rather tall, they had a slightly athletic build as well as ebony hair tied in a ponytail and bangs swept toward the right. Sharp maroon eyes were hidden behind almost black sunglasses which had an indigo border. A white shirt with dark red outlines went along with a brown belt, black jeans and dark grey boots. Their outfit was complimented by a dark blue, high-collared, short-sleeved coat, which had a black outline and reached their mid-thighs. Another fact that she noticed was that she seemed markedly older than everyone she had met before, being in her early thirties instead of the earlytwenties/late late teens.

"Greetings, I am Oni..." answered the person, who had seemed slightly startled by Toru's arrival.

"If that's your real name, it surely ain't your full name, right?"

"My given name is Mariko Shinobu, but I would rather be refered to as Oni, as it is more ambiguous."

 **MARUKO SHINOBU, a.k.a. ONI - 6th DIVISION**

"Oh, sure, I guess." nodded Toru, clearly confused. "So... Watcha do in the Future Foundation?"

"Riot Suppression."

"Doubt that'll happen much around here.." whispered Toru, running out of ideas to bring up as Oni seemed quite unresponsive to her small talk. Eventually, after some awkward minutes passed, she excused herself with a "I'll go meet the rest of the convoy.", to which Oni just nodded, continuing to unpack the truck.

Approaching the last person being part of the convoy, Toru noticed the boy eyeing her, clearly already on guard.

 _"This is going to be a fun interaction..."_ thought the girl, sighing interiorly, as she returned the analyzing glare the boy set on her. He was quite tall and had moderately pale skin as well as a rather feminine complexion. He was lean, with minimal muscles being apparent, but was slouching slightly, which seemed almost unnatural for him to do so, somehow. His neatly combed black hair had blond tipes, while faint freckles dusted his cheeks. He wore a basic black suit comprising of a white-collared shirt, black tie, black dressed pants and shoes accompanied with a dark blue double-breasted thicken jacket which has four buttons on it. Finally, he was clearly foreign, even though Toru couldn't place where.

His pale blue eyes followed her every move until she reached him, making her incredibly nervous.

"Hi, Toru Akuji, 9th Division." said the weapon expert, cutting to the point due to the general unwillingness the man exuded. After an akward few seconds of silence where he continued to just stare at her waringly, she added "And who are you?"

"…Just call me Bleach. Sounds weird, I know, but that's just who I am." harshly responded the man, returning to unpacking the last truck of the convoy.

 **BLEACH - 5th DIVISION**

"Okay." answered Toru, squinting at him. "Why, though?"

"It's just who I am." he repeated curtly, glaring at her.

"Sure, uh, okay. Whaaaatchu doing in the Future Foundation?"

"..Intelligence gathering."

"Like a.. spy? James Bond, Totally Spies, Kingsman?" wondered Toru, trying to find one spy movie where the agent did work similar to Bleach's.

"None of them work in intelligence gathering."

"Isn't it intelligence gathering when they get info out of someone by, for example, seducing them? Do _you_ do that? Just, seduce for info?" Toru looked quizzically at the boy, who just glared at her as he continued unpacking the truck. "Or is it torture for info?"

"Do you honestly think that the Future Foundation would allow such at thing?" harshly answered Bleach, throwing a distrustful glare toward her.

"So, no torture, just seducing and stalking, noted. Not sure how you'll be able to get Despair info here, since it's supposed to be despair free." observed Toru.

"Uh-uh." deadpanned Bleach, making Toru question his presence in Iruyama. It could mean many things, some pretty worrisome.

Before she could delve too deep into those thoughts, another convoy arrived, distracting her. They were the final troups to come aid in the reconstruction and revitalisation of the town, and Toru felt more inclined to meet them than wallow in her thoughts or keep trying to communicate with the unwilling Bleach. Excusing herself, she headed toward the first vehicule, hoping inwardly that she would meet some more fun-loving people, or at least people willing to talk. Also, not over-dressed. But more importantly, not another Queen Suji, as she had enough of one haugthy, narsissistic, self-important neighbor. In fact, one was already too much.

A blond woman exited the vehicule just as Toru reached it, prompting her to yet again introduce herself to the latest newcomer.

"Hi, Toru Akuji, 9th Division."

"I'm Yurika Konoe, The Ultimate Cheerleader, and the pleasure is all _yours_."

Toru could do nothing but sigh deeply internally, as she forcefully similed, as only one thought invaded her head:

 _"Oh no."_

* * *

 **Hi everybody!** **Imma try to get the second part of the intros out soon! I know the feeling of waiting for your OC to show up! Although until I get a good hang of every characters it's probably gonna take me longer to write chapters. I'm still going to try and realease the next intro part this month, which I should be able to do because vacations but at the same time, responsabilities are still hurdles. Still gonna try and I will keep you updated on my profile with how much I wrote and things like that, since I saw some people do it and I think that's cool and that's al the reason I need.**

 **In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this first batch of intros, and for every character we saw so far, please tell me if I portrayed them right so far! Also, what do you think of the cast so far, and the protag, and if you want, my writing, what I could try to do better and all! Descriptions are hell for me, I never know how to put them in good enough, so I hope the infodump wasn't too bad or something. Anyway, I'd just appreciate your thoughts on this chapter, and I will put up a poll on my profile for who do you think is the most interesting character so far, because I'm very curious to see what you guys think (even though you could just say it in the reviews too, there's never too much in a review tbh).**

 **But yeah, thank you for reading! :)**


	4. Chapter I - (Ab)normal Days Part II

**Happy Canada Day everybody! :D**

 **Sorry for the wait, I thought I could get this out sooner but June was a very busy month for me, so one day late on my once a month chapter schedule. Oh well. Also, I cut the second intro chapter in two, since I wanted to update but right now I feel like I'm not writing as decently as I could, so I'm waiting for me to be a bit less tired and hot (It's like, 40 degrees celsius outside and I'm dying, usually it's just in the early 20 degrees around here in full summer) to be able to write some better intros than the one I was doing, which I felt were a bit half-assed. I'm just having some hard time with intros, especially since I have to get used to your characters as well. I hope to be able to pick up some speed soon too... One other reason it took long is that whenever I lose some part of what I wrote by accident, I also go in deep writer's block, which happened here and absolutely didn't help. I hope it won't happen again. Anyway! enough of me rambling, unto review replies!**

 **Pretty Palutena: I'm glad you already like Yurika with only one line! :P Most importantly, I'm glad I was able to portray Whitney correctly and that you enjoyed her intro. Thank you for your review! :D**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Toru is indeed the protag, and I'm glad you think the characters are interesting so far. Thank you for revewing! :)**

 **Blue Tanaka: Uni is hell, but it's over for now at least! Until September. I'm glad you like the cast so far! :D Thank you for reviewing! :D**

 **Hexcav-Lio: I'm really glad you like the cast and how I portrayed Oni! :D Always happy to know I wasn't off on portraying a character. Thanks for you review! :)**

 **FairyBookworm: No need to feel bad about reviewing at a later point, I just appreciate that you reviewed at all! :) i'm so happy I portrayed Queen Suji right! She's such a fun character to write for since she's so eccentric and I'm really happy you liked her introduction and interactiosn so far! I'm also quite glad you enjoy Toru, after all, we're kinda gonna follow her around. :P I'm really glad you liked the characters so far, and I want to thank you for writing this long-ish review, I really appreciate it! :D**

 **Thanks again to eveybody who reviewed, seriously, those gives me lots of motivation to write so I appreciate them a lot!**

 **Now, unto the chapter!**

* * *

"I'm Yurika Konoe, The Ultimate Cheerleader, and the pleasure is all yours."

 **YURIKA KONOE - ULTIMATE CHEERLEADER - 14th DIVISION**

The woman stood up straight, full of confidence as she introduced herself. Her shoulder-length fair hair were tied in a ponytail. Yurika had green eyes, as well as heart-shaped face and lightly tanned skin. Her fairly athletic build was a testament to her Ultimate. She wore a white off-the-shoulder, long-sleeved top along with black trousers clinched with a black and silver belt.

"Uh, Toru Akuji, Ultimate Nothing, Armament R&D, nice to meet you I guess." Toru's forced smile almost left her face as Yurkia proceeded to look her up and down with disdain at the mention of her lack of an Ultimate.

"I hope there aren't too much of you.." muttered Yurika as she turned around to face one of her convoys companion who was walking toward them.

The woman had a caucasian complexion, with a slight tan. Her face was slightly round and doll-like, with freckles scattered acros her cheeks. Her dark-brown eyes were oval-shaped and almost appeared black. Her straight, shoulder-length black hair contained naturl dark brown highlights. Her metallic blue painted nails glinted in the light as the woman clipped back her side-swept fringe with plain white hair slides, repositioning her black framed glasses, which had large rectangular lenses, atop her head afterward. She wore a long white button-down shirt that reached slighty above her mid-tigh under a pale blue cropped blazer patterned with star shapes in multiple shades of blues and greens, left unbottoned, with its sleeves rolled up to the elbows. A large, light blue neck ribbon was slightly loosely wrapped around her neck, along with a velvety burgundy choker, which had a an abstract leaf-and-vine pattern made with silver and gold colored thread and a daisy pendant. On her right wrist, she sported five silver, black and white beaded bracelets while on her right wrist she wore a simple wristwatch with a brown leather strap and a simple black hairtie. Her deep burgundy slacks were rolled up to her kness, the folds held up by a small buttoned strap. Simple black ankle boots, sporting zips on their sides, adorned her feet. Finishing her outfit was a old, medium-sized pink shoulder bag, decorated with multiple anime-looking bunnies, and one being from a Dutch children's cartoon, Miffy.

"Rio Ishi, from the 10th Division-you can just call me Rio. Good to meet you." said the woman, her voice having a slight husky and rough edge.

 **RIO ISHI - ULTIMATE ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGIST - 10th DIVISION**

"It would be nice to meet her if she was an actual Ultimate, but she's just a loser." replied Yurika, pouting.

"Being only good at one thing and sucking at everything else must be so much fun after all." counter-attacked Toru with a teasing tone. "'Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one' is the full saying after all."

Yurika simply huffed, before responding. "I'm sure the last part is just an added one losers added to make themselves feel better."

"Let's not fight, everybody has their own strengths, may it be one or more." replied Rio in a calming voice. "Everybody is here for a reason and we should focus on making Iruyama the best place we can for the future, regardless of Ultimates. It is far more important to work together right now."

"It would be better, and go faster, if we had actual _qualified_ people to do so." said Yurika, turning around sharply as she headed toward one of the buildings.

"She's going to be fun to be around.." muttered Toru, sighing as she turned to Rio. "Sucks to have such a meeting. I'm Toru Akuji, 9th Division. It's nice to meet you too."

"Yeah.. Hopefully, she will calm down and learn that we aren't so different." sighed Rio as they shook hands. "We just went to different schools, after all. Well, I'll be moving on now, I need to move in my new house."

"Gotcha. I'll go meet the others. See ya around!"

Toru waved as Rio left, then heading toward another of the trucks, where a young man stood.

He had short, spiky black hair that feathered up with pink bright, ombre colors near the tips. He had lightly tanned skin, as well as rosy red cheeks and button nose adorning his slightly soft facial features. He had an androgynous, skinny male physique and hairless arms and legs. He wore a dark red long-sleeved sweater, which pictured a white heart pierced by an arrow and spilling black blood, along with a cashmere magenta scarf with a black heart pattern on the frilly ends around his neck. A silver wristwatch was wrapped around his left wrist while a ruby red studded bracelet was on his right wrist. Completing his outfit was baggy black short pants with lots of pocket, which allowed to see a heart birthmark on his left leg, and a pair of red and black designer high tops shoes, decorated with stripes on their sides, andblack socks.

His round, scarlet red eyes focused on a notepad, on which he was writing . When he finished, he turned the notepad toward Toru, who read: " _Nice to meet you, I'm Kokoro Omoiyari, but call me Joker Valentine."_ As the girl finished reading, the boy quickly wiped the pad, writing some more. " _I'm in the 3th Division."_

 **KOKORO OMOIYARI, a.k.a. JOKER VALENTINE - ULTIMATE MATCHMAKER - 3rd DIVISION**

After introducing herself, Toru continued. "So, Joker Valentine, you're really into the heart motifs, aren't you?"

" _I'm the Ultimate Matchmaker, it's all thematic."_

"Matchmaker, uh? Will you be matching people left and right?" joked the girl, as Joker quickly scibbled on his notepad as he smiled widely.

" _Of course! I can't wait to start! Love is truly important, and I'm sure some people will find it here!_ "

Toru laughed as she saw the determination emanating from the matchmaker. "Well, let me know of any possible match with me then."

" _Sure! Now, I just need to meet everybody and see possible matches, even though it make take some time to really see the potential of some relationships!"_

 _"_ Of course, opinions changes and all. Anyway, good luck in your quest, Joker, can't wait to see what comes of it."

" _I'll keep you updated! See ya!"_

Toru yet again waved as Joker departed, going to the community center as well, where most people seems to have gathered after unloading the trucks. As the young woman turned around to head to look for other people, something crashed into her, effectively sending her to the ground.

"Oh, my bad! I didn't see you there!" slowly said a voice, which sounded straight out of an audiobook, that Toru easily recognized.

Before her stood a thin, pale woman, with her dark brown hair fading to black tied in two loose braids behind her ears, laying over her shoulders. Her thin almond eyes had chocolate brown pupils, while her round face gave her a baby face, making her appear younger than 19. She wore a white shirtunder a dark marron jumper covering most of her hands, on which rested a white tied ribbon. Black skinny jeans and plain white trainers completed her outfit.

 **AOI AYAMA - ULTIMATE STORYTELLER - 3rd DIVISION**

"Aren't you supposed to in scouting? Whatcha even doing here?" wondered Toru, obviously suprised at seeing the girl.

"Well, listen carefully! It is a short tale, but one worth hearing." began Aoi, smiling widely.

"I don't have time for your tales dude, can't you just say things without having to make it a audiobook?" sighed Toru as she stood up.

"Ah, you're no fun when you don't listen." pouted the storyteller, crossing her arms.

Toru simply rolled her eyes, clearly remembering everytime the girl had gone on a story tangent while the dual-haired girl had tried to ask about the new recruits she had scouted for the Armament R&D department. It could go for hours, even if it was prefaced with 'it'd a short tale' and it was something she wished to avoid.

"Just say it already, no need to make two thousands detours."

"Scouting is a serious task and as such it is needed that scouts now where the scouted will go, to be able scout them properly."

"That's a lot of uses of the word scouts in one sentence, but okay." responded Toru as Aoi got distracted, beaming as she saw something on their left.

"Hi Reiga! I didn't know you'd be here!" exclaimed the girl as she headed toward a boy, who was unloading boxes to bring them into the clinic.

The boy had an athletic body build along with an olive skin tone. His messy and wavy hair reached his shoulders. Strangely enough, he wore a black blindfold along with a black half-mask, which didn't stop him from having precise movements. He also wore a black and yellow striped button-up shirt under a grey vest, itself partially covered by a white hooded coat decorated with a large number of zippers. He had finger gloves on his left pinkie, index and middle fingers and a leather gauntlet on his right hand. A belt held multiples masks, all plainly white, and a pair of brown slacks. Black loafers completed his outfit.

"Oh hi there Aoi! Who's accompanying you?" asked the boy as he turned toward the duo, smiling widely.

"Toru Akuji, 9th Division. Who're you?" replied the girl as she eyed the strange boy.

"I'm Reiga Mugahito, from the 4th Division. And this is Roberta!" responed the masked boy, as he threw a skull at Toru.

 **REIGA MUGAHITO - ULTIMATE FORENSIC BIOLOGIST - 4th DIVISION**

"Oh fuck!" shouted the girl as she caught it, quickly throwing 'her' back at the Reiga, who was laughing along Aoi as he reached to retrieve Roberta.

"Don't worry buddy! That skull is a replica!"

"You should still probably not throw that at people dude, especially in those times." replied Toru, slightly uncomfortable. The Tragedy had made lots of victims and it wasn't improbable that it would have been one to her.

"Oh Toru, lighten up! It was a simple joke! One of the many stories Roberta has lived through her lives. I should tell you some one day." continued Aoi, still smiling widely as Toru simply sighed, wanting nothing more than to change the subjecy.

"Yeah yeah.. How do you two know each other, anyway? Did ya scout him or something?"

"Yes, in fact, I did! It was quite the entertaining event-"

"Oh do you remember-"

As both Reiga and Aoi went on a memory trip, Toru silently walked away, not in a mood to deal with a story full of inside jokes and the likes. Seeing a convenience store, she quickly walked toward it, entering it. Upon entering, the only thing Toru could see was fresh products lined up on the left walls, along with a smaller shelves next to one of the cash register filled with candies and chocolate. How was that even possible? As the girl slowly advanced in the store, she saw an alley filled with bread and jams, one even including cereals and cookies. On one side of the last alley, there was numerous dairy products, and otherwise frozen or cool foods lining up behind glass doors. Toru looked at the food bewildered, opening one of the doors to take an ice cream buckets, looking at the expiration date, which was set in a few months. She repeated the process with various food in the alley, such as cheese and milk, and none of them were passed the date. Toru's thoughts whirred as she tried to understand how that much food could have been stocked there when only a few people had been living in the empty town, focusing on rebuilding the damaged buildings. There were maybe two agricultural guys sent, and it was quite an impossible feat for them to pull off, especially due to the vast amount of products in the store. And it wasn't like the food could be a relic from before the Tragedy, as much of the food would have passed their expiration date a long time ago. Puzzled, Toru took one of the chips bag and opened it, gingerly eating one. Surprising her slightly, it was quite good, showing no sign of being expired in its taste or texture.

Suddenly, a crash resonated in the quiet convenience store, startling Toru. A string of curses resonated as a faint conversation could be heard as the girl approached the sound. Biting the interior of her cheeks, she couldn't help but hope that the perpetrators would have a few answers for the suprising state of the convenience store.


End file.
